Campaign '04: Gay Politics: Who Gets to Talk About Mary Cheney?

As John Kerry paused and uttered the word lesbian in last week's presidential debate, the dials started to turn. Frank Luntz, a former Republican pollster who now has corporate clients, was with a group of uncommitted voters just two miles from the Tempe, Ariz., debate site. The 23 members of the "dial group" had a knob they could turn to indicate their approval or disapproval of what the candidates were saying. When the Democratic nominee noted the sexual orientation of Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter Mary, to a person, they thought the remark was odd, jarring. "People thought it was uncalled...